Current reforestation procedures involve collection of cones, release of seeds from the cones, sowing and producing seedlings, which then are transported to the site of reforestation. This procedure is labor-intensive and expensive and seedling production capacity is well below that required to replant cut overs. In addition, the genetic diversity of the cut stand is lost and replaced by a foreign progeny.
Alternative methods of reforestation, such as aerial direct seeding, are not highly attractive options because of limitations in the amount of expensive purified seeds available, airplane distribution costs and the modest result obtained.
Low profit margins and the old, declining or senescing nature of many Canada's boreal forests makes large strip cuts or clear cuts an economically attractive alternative to selection cutting. This procedure is an extensive, highly automated process where trees are often mechanically felled, transported to roadside and delimbed. Workers and equipment are only transported to the cut site once. In contrast, present methods of reforestation are very expensive, labor intensive and require that planting crews and equipment return to the cut over after the harvest crews have left.
What is required is a low cost, highly extensive method for reforesting all cut overs using the workers and equipment on site during the harvest operation with little additional cost. We now have found an entirely unique way of achieving reforestation which conforms to this requirement. In this invention, inexpensive crude seed extracted from forest residues using a rapid mechanical process is employed for reforestation and a very high direct seeding germination density can be achieved.